Dillon, George. Contending Rhetorics: Writing in Academic Disciplines
(1991)
Draws together discussions of writing within diverse disciplines, attempting to find common issues and to cross-reference interesting ways of posing and responding to them.
Disarms the “Glasnost” idea that “it’s all rhetoric” Dillon thinks that’s good, but too simple—return a little.
Raises Bahktin’s spirit of carnival—temporary suspension of hierarchies played out in promiscuous mingling inversion and collapse of oppositions and exclusions—higher makes contact with lower, which it has repressed. The energy released comes from violation of taboo.
New Rhetoric is concerned with Burke’s “strategies for the encompassing of situations”
Such a carnival as Bahktin’s has erupted in academic circles in past years. Traditionally firm lines between science and literature reason and rhetoric have been challenged and abolished with a resulting flow from higher to lower.
Profs of soc, phil, sciences, have embraced the slippery signifier, proclaiming it’s all rhetoric!”
Terry Eagleton—call for the replacement of literary theory by rhetoric—rhet enriched by psychoanalysis and deconstruction—Literary Theory 1982
A casualty of all this merging—glasnost—the distinction between rhetoric and literary criticism.
The primacy of rhetoric means that literary critical analysis provides a deeper account of what is going on in a philosophical or scientific text than a mere analysis of its argumentation.
New rhetoric tried to reduce the dominance and prestige of Reason. Generally in some positivistic, objectivist or physical/mathematical scientistic form and to claim for itself the entire domain of Aristotle’s dialectic. Taking all the probably, leaving only the demonstrable—the inverse of Ramus
Argues against Elaine Maimon who uses metaphor of maps and exploration to call English teachers to travel to, and become conversant in the discourse of various academic communities.
Academic discourse important but imperfect and difficult at best.
You cannot possibly know all disciplines well enough to be rhetorically literate in them all.
In the theory of argument, rhetoric, dialectic, and logic are distinguished as perspectives on argumentation.
Rhet is the study of process—attention to speakers, hearers, purposes, occasions, as the affect attempts to persuade.
Dialectic. Study of procedure focuses on rules, pro con opportunities of rebuttal, restatement, clarification, debate.
Logic, treats the validity of the arguments
The change is rhet of impersonal objectivity being challenged by rhetoric of reflexive self awareness. Strikes a balance?
Dillon, George. Contending Rhetorics: Writing in Academic Disciplines
(1991)